


Tchaikovsky or Led Zeppelin (or both?)

by chaoslaura



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Gen, It's just them being friends and nagging each other, ballet practice, balletdancer!Reg, band practice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoslaura/pseuds/chaoslaura
Summary: Reggie is not only playing bass in a band with his friends Luke, Alex, Bobby, and Julie, he's also doing ballet, his second passion.
Relationships: Reggie & the rest of the gang
Comments: 8
Kudos: 86





	Tchaikovsky or Led Zeppelin (or both?)

**Author's Note:**

> Was I writing this instead of my other fics? Guilty.
> 
> But the urge to write this overcame me after my ballet lesson and there is a video of Jeremy on Youtube where his girlfriend shows him how to do ballet and he failed big time. So I thought, well, what if he can though? So this is the outcome, I didn't really knew where to go with this while writing it so don't expect too much. 
> 
> I also didn't make it angsty for once even though I had ideas for it, please be proud of me.

„Hand on the bar, chin up, shoulders down, stomach in, looking straight ahead. Don’t forget to straighten your inner leg at all times, most important before you go into relevé. Toni, leave you heel flat on the floor. What kind of arm movement is that supposed to display, Marcus?” Mrs. Petrow gave a few _tututut _noises while going around the room, inspecting every student, attentive for every minimalistic mistake.__

__‘The arm is not round enough, point the foot more, pay attention to where the little toe points, the gaze follows the arm.’ Every little detail was observed by Mrs. Petrow and nothing escaped her even with twenty students scattered around the room. She found something to complain about with everyone, like every lesson, every week, for years. You get the notion. When she reached Reggie, she merely put her index finger under his chin und lifted it up a bit, otherwise saying nothing and Reggie felt proud he didn’t make a mistake for once. Rare occurrence._ _

__Clapping her hands once, the dance teacher signalled the end of the exercise “You all have to focus more, the performance must be perfect, but in the current state you’re all in I would never let you on stage.” Mrs. Petrow was as kind as always, never holding back with her dissatisfaction, Reggie sighed._ _

__“Now to the grand battement jeté, hurry up. And one and two and three.” With every jeté she clapped her hands in sync with the piano music. Reggie loathed this exercise, his leg wouldn’t comply with going higher, no matter how often Reggie trained, and he knew his teacher wasn’t satisfied either._ _

__After their exercises on the bar they would go over to routines in the middle of the room, alone or pairing up with the girls. Pirouettes were Reggie’s passion. He could spin and turn around the room and would never stop when his head wouldn’t complain at one point, getting dizzy and his vision turning with the room. But there was something so deeply connecting him with the music, how his body would sway with the rhythm, letting it fill his mind. He could follow the moves with his eyes closed, concentrating on every little muscle, the emotions flowing through him to the tips of his fingers._ _

__But today they would train for their performance in pas de deux and Reggie looked out for his partner Toni. She came over with a smile on her lips, ready to gossip about their teacher when she wasn’t looking. It was their favourite activity to pass the time and a way to get rid of the stress. Mrs. Petrow would be lecturing them for their giggling in no time. Too much fun wasn’t allowed withing these walls. It was a tragic story and their faces had to portray that too, each little smile was out of place._ _

__But with Toni he didn’t mind. She was as goofy as him outside of practice and they had gotten along really good since the beginning when he started dancing at age 7 and she was 8. Now he was 17 and still going._ _

__For their teacher’s sake both of them pushed their jokes to the back of their minds and got to their start position. Reggie always loved how the men were playing an essential part as a supporting role for the women and weren’t in the spotlight for once unless they had a solo, but they could never reach the level of gracefulness female ballet dancers achieved._ _

__So, he picked Toni up with his hands on her waist and lifted her up, her legs straight while she moved her arms around in a precise manner. Letting her down again he twirled her once before she got into an attitude. When she was on her point shoes, she protruded him just two inches, but she never stopped teasing him about it since he hit his last growth spurt and would never catch up with her again. (Him and Luke had gotten in enough fights over their heights he didn’t need another person teasing him about it.)_ _

__When they were finally allowed to leave, his white shirt clung to his skin, sweat running down his back. His muscles were tired and riding his bicycle seemed like an impossible task. His body was all mushy from the stretches but at least he had a pause for two days before the cycle began again._ _

__Changing into his street clothes and packing his shirt, tights, and ballet slippers into his bag, he met with Toni at the entrance again, they were always waiting for each other for a quick chat._ _

__“You feel like grabbing a bite? Training put a hole in my stomach, I was afraid Mrs. Petrow would hear it grumbling and scold me for it, for making the act unbelievable.” Toni asked him, her own bag slung over her shoulder._ _

__Reggie shook his head, regretting his last minute made plans. “Well, I would love to, but I also have practice with the band in a minute. No time, sorry.”_ _

__Toni gave him a bewildered look. “Now? After training? Sometimes I wonder how you fit everything under your hat. Must be a pretty big one. No wonder you like cowboy hats.” As everyone else of his friends Toni picked up his passion for Country pretty early but never made fun of him because of that. Might be another reason why he liked her so much._ _

__“There should really be a cowboy themed ballet. Imagine a magical story between a cowboy and his beloved horse, going on an adventure together, maybe meeting a woman along the way but in the end he realizes that his one true love is his freedom and his horse.”_ _

__Toni let out a loud laugh, holding her stomach and laid a hand on Reggie’s shoulder, squeezing it shortly. She was clearly amused. “You watched Brokeback Mountain one too many times I would say.”_ _

__Reggie gave a scandalized look. “I said freedom not men. Don’t read between the lines where there is nothing to be found.” He scoffed once again but he knew Toni was just making fun of him._ _

__Taking her hand back from his shoulder, she instead pulled him into a hug as a goodbye. “Well then, have fun tonight, say hello to the boys and Julie for me, haven’t seen them in a while.”_ _

__Reggie put his arms around Toni’s waist and gave a last squeeze before letting loose. “I’ll bring them to the premier if they want to or not. They’re in debt after the accident at the pier and I will use this favour to drag them to the show.”_ _

__“Can’t wait. Bye Reg, I really have to go now or my stomach will eat itself.” As on cue a grumbling was heard, and Toni clutched at her tummy before continuing in a dramatic voice “See, it’s too late. I will die a horrible death, tell Alex that I always appreciated his advices, and Bobby’s dating tips, Julie is just amazing and has great style, and most importantly tell Luke he’s a dumbass.”_ _

__Reggie chuckled at the last comment. “Will do, but what’s with me? Don’t say I wasn’t important enough to get a last goodbye. I never let you fall when I held you, you should appreciate that” A pout decorated Reggie’s face and he was ready to sulk at such injustice._ _

__“Oh thanks Reggie, really. Thank you for not harming me, the bare minimum. You won’t get a thanks for that and now go before your boys start searching for you.”_ _

__“Alright, kiss a meatball sub for me. “ With a last wave Reggie turned around and walked in the opposite direction, he wasn’t entirely sure if he locked his bike over there, or maybe around the corner? Oh thank god, there it was, he was in no condition to walk to their studio or how Alex would call it ‘a rundown garage at best’._ _

__The wind that passed him as he paddled down the road, cooled down his flushed skin, and left him feeling more alive than half an hour ago. The lights at the garage were already on when Reggie turned into the driveway, leaning his bike against the wall and grabbing his bag. Luckily for him his bass had found a permanent residency at the studio, the thought of having to drag it around too, no thanks, his arm muscles were aching enough._ _

__He opened the creaking door to reveal his four bandmates standing around the room, doing various things. Luke looked up from his notebook, what else would he be doing._ _

__“Toni said I should tell you you’re a dumbass Luke.” Reggie said as a greeting and slumped down on the couch, feeling the soft material and sighed at how comfortable it was._ _

__Luke sputtered and gave him a confused and questioning look, coming over and joining him on the couch, instantly crossing his arms and started pouting. “What did I do?”_ _

__Luke seemed really upset to his surprise and Reggie felt sorry for saying it like that. “Luke, it was a joke! You know how Toni is, we were just joking around.”_ _

__Luke had gone from sad back to upbeat in a second and stood up again to retrieve his notebook, a pencil was still clamped behind his ear. “Oh good, and I thought I forgot something I did.”_ _

__“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Ales smiled sweetly at Luke from where he was already seated behind his drum kit, giving a snickering Julie a bro fist, who was always in to drag Luke. It was their little game. How everyone else but them could see how much it counted as flirting was astonishing, but well, what could they do besides follow the play?_ _

__“Back to Toni. How’s it going with her?” Bobby asked then, repeatingly raising his eyebrows in a seemingly suggesting manner, a lopsided grin plastered on his face._ _

__“What do you mean?” Reggie was seriously confused at that question. “She’s fine if that is what you wanted to know.”_ _

__Alex groaned in the background. There was oblivious Reggie again, how they knew and loved him. Luke sprung in, helping Bobby out. “What Bobby wanted to know is if you finally made a move on Toni. You know, like asking her out on a date?"_ _

__Reggie’s mouth popped open. He had never been thinking about going on a date with Toni, not even considering it. That concept was weird, they were just really good friends. “Why would I ask her out? She’s just a friend.” He said so._ _

__Julie put the mic she had been holding until now into the stand and turned to Reggie. “First of all, you know each other for 10 years. Second, you two have the same personality and interests, you two fit so good together. When she’s around, your happiness is bouncing off the balls, much like Luke after a gig. And to wrap it up, she looks gorgeous, you love her style, you said so yourself.” Great, now Julie had conspired against him too._ _

__Reggie raised an eyebrow, was that it? “And? We all share interests, we’re in a band together, and Luke and I have known each other since we’re 10 and I can say with confidence that you all look good, but have I asked any of you out yet? No. So why would I do that with Toni?”_ _

__“I’m honoured for being called good-looking.” Alex said. “But Reggie, if you don’t want to you don’t have to ask Toni out. We just thought you two really liked each other, we thought it was obvious, sorry.” Reggie couldn’t stay mad long at Alex; he was just too sweet. He sighed, stood up from the couch and doubled over, stretching his knees. It was never a good idea to sit down after training._ _

__“I will never get over how flexible you are.” Reggie looked up and saw Bobby staring at him with amazement._ _

__Reggie grinned at the hidden compliment. “If you wouldn’t skip PE all the time, you might get there one day.”_ _

__Julie hollered, satisfied with where this was going. “Yes, call him out for what he is, a lazy pazy, abandoning us in gym hell.”_ _

__Luke meanwhile stopped scribbling in his book again and gave an annoyed expression. “Guys, we said no school talk during band time.” There was nothing new with Luke’s hate of school. For him it was just another distraction in his music career, another way to waste precious song writing time._ _

__Reggie stretched his arms a last time, rolling his shoulder blades, and made a beeline for his bass. He loved practice time with his friends, but he was ready for this day to be over, but hoped it wasn’t too obvious. Not that his friends got the impression he didn’t like spending time with them. Luke picked up on his exhaustion though._ _

__“Why you seem so tired today? You look like you’re done with the day and it’s only 8.”_ _

__Reggie wasn’t sure if that was a serious question and needed a second. “You can try giving your everything in ballet with Mrs. Petrow for two and a half hours and see how fresh you’re looking afterwards.”_ _

__Luke’s eyes got soft again. “Sorry, didn’t know you had practice beforehand.” He apologized and then as another thought crossed his mind “- Wait, didn’t you were at practice two days ago?”_ _

__“I have practice on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It has always been like this before a performance.” How could Luke had never catch up on that?_ _

__“What?? You’re training three days a week on top of schoolwork and band practice almost every day a week?” Bobby let out like it was implausible, showing the same baffled look as Luke._ _

__Reggie was looking between the two. “Yeah?” He wasn’t sure what they wanted him to say._ _

__All four seemed impressed at that and Alex sympathetic smile greeted him when Reggie looked his way. “When you’re tired, we can call it off for today and just watch a movie or something.” He proposed and everyone else agreed, even Luke, who pushed them the hardest._ _

__Reggie was quick to jump on that opportunity and before someone else could chime in with ideas he picked up a DVD from his Star Wars collection, hearing a collective groaning behind him, but he didn’t care. It was his feel-good escape._ _

__Bobby tousled his hair when he walked past him where the TV sat and laughed at Reggie’s disgruntled look. “You don’t look as threatening as you want, you’re just too cute.” Fantastic, just what he liked to hear. Pulling his hair back again that had fallen in his face from Bobby’s action, Alex called out to him._ _

__“Hey Reg, do a pair of spins to the TV.”_ _

__Reggie didn’t need to be told twice before he started turning to where he wanted to go, fixating a point on the wall, his leg going into a passé on every turn. Landing in perfect position in front of the older telly, he gave his audience one bow and got applause in return, eliciting a smile from him._ _

__When they were all seated on a pile of cushions and surrounded with blankets, a cuddling mess on the floor, Reggie remembered what he wanted to ask them. “Hey, would you like to come to the premier? It’s in two weeks. It’s okay if you have plans already, it’s not as important, I wouldn’t be mad, I just wan-“_ _

__Alex hand was placed on his arm, interrupting his nervous rambling. “Of course we’ll come Reg. Right guys?” The other three were quick to agree and Reggie beamed at them._ _

__“I’ll sit front row and whistle every time you come on stage.” Luke added. Reggie was _not _keen on finding out if Luke was serious and made a mental note to place Luke in the back of the venue.___ _

____When the credits scrolled down on the screen later, Reggie was already fast asleep, laying between his friends, who just pulled the blanked higher on him and tried to be as silent as possible while chatting quietly._ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> As always kudos and comments are appreciated, they make me so happy, and I hope me going off on ballet wasn't to much^^


End file.
